Skewer-step mounting.



W. O. ALDRICH.

SKEWER STEP MOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY a, law.

1,120,641 Patentd Dec. 8,1914.

WINE

' llllllllllllll/mlll VIIIIMIIIII/III/fi STATS PAENT FFTQE.

WILLIAM. O. ALDRICH, OF 'W'HITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITIN MACHINE VCR/KS, OF W'HITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. COR- PORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

SKEWER-STEP l/IOUNTING. i I;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed May 3, 1910. Serial No. 559,204.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM O. ALDRICH, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'Whitinsville, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skewer-Step Mountings, of which the following is a full, true, and concise specification.

This invention is an improvement in the mounting of the foot-step bearings for the skewers in metallic creels, such as employed in spinning, twisting and like machines, and is more particularly concerned with a means for securely holding porcelain skewer-steps in such creels without danger of breaking or chipping during their insertion or while in use, and so that they may be readily removed when occasion arises.

To this end, the invention consists in the novel formation and construction of the portions of metallic creel-boards or rails which immediately surround and form the seats or supports for the porcelain steppieces as hereinafter fully explained and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 of the drawings forming part hereof illustrates in transverse section, a spinning-frame creel in which the creelboards or creel rails are made of sheetmetal and the skewer-steps are held in perforations therein by the means constituting this invention; Fig. 2 is a detail, in vertical central section, on an enlarged scale, of one form of skewer-step mounting, with the step in its position preliminary to insertion; Fig. 3 is a similar view of the same parts with the step in place; Fig. 4 is a section view of a further form adapted for supporting a different type of skewer-step;

Fig. 5 is asimilar section of still another form; Fig. 6 is a similar section of a preferred form; Fig. 7 is a plan view thereof; and Fig. 8 is a development of the form of Fig. 6.

lhe creel shown in section by Fig. 1 is composed of three creel-boards 1, the lowermost of which is supported upon or in the plane of the roller beams 2, and the other two are supported by the uprights 3, forming a two-story creel. The skewers t are stepped upon the lower and middle creel-boards and have suitable provisions engaging their tops whereby they are held in vertical position and permitted to revolve freely. It will be understood that the skewers form the revoluble supports upon which the bobbins 5 are placed so that the yarn or thread may be drawn from the latter with the least resistance. The yarn from the bobbins passes over suitable guides to the rollers, as indicated, and thence to the fliers or spindles, not shown, in the wellknown manner. Freedom of rotation for the skewers is commonly provided by form ing the stepbearings thereof of glazed porcelain or similar hard surface material, but the constant turning of the skewer thereon, 111 time destroys the bearing surface and the result thereafter is rapid wear of the skewer base with increasing tension on the yarn. For this reason it is a matter of advantage that the step-pieces shall not only be suitably and safely held while in good condition, but shall also be capable of ready removal when worn, so that they can then be quickly supplanted by new ones. The present invention accomplishes these objects by providing a skewer-step mounting which is integral with the plate of the creel and so shaped or constructed with reference to the step that the latter can be pushed or driven through or from its normal seat by the application of suitable force, and which at the same time engages the step-piece with sufficient resilience to enable it to be pressed or pushed into place in the mounting without danger of chipping or breaking. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the metal plate forming the creel-board or creel-rail, as the case may be, is perforated with a hole of suitable diameter and with its marginal portion drawn or bent downwardly from the plane of the plate, so that a skewer-step 6 of common dimensions can be held within the tubular drawn out part. The attenuation of the metal due to the drawing out of the edge of the plate provides a certain amount of resilience which will produce a safe holding friction upon the step, but the desired degree of resilience is more readily obtained by slotting the projecting tubular part with one or more slots extending depthwise of the perforation, thereby converting such part into one or more fingers 7, which have a similar engagement with the step-piece. The resilience afforded by slitting the tubular part into fingers is supplemental to that provided by the attenuation of the metal plate without slitting, and it is found that with the slits sufficiently frequent and the fingers correspondingly slender, the amount of drawing required can be accomplished in one operation with the punching of the metal. The fingers as thus formed can be relied upon to hold the steps with security under all normal conditions. When neces sary the socket formed by the fingers and the pressure which they exert upon the step can be readily varied or adjusted as desired by squeezing or bending them inward with a pair of pliers. However, instead of depending solely upon frictional engagement for the support of the step, a positive support can be provided, as shown in-Fig. 4, wherein the skewer-step 8 is made with a head flange which finds a positive support upon the margin of the perforation in the creel-plate. The edge of the perforation upon which the flange rests is bent or drawn downwardly and also cut or slitted to form retaining fingers 9, which though somewhat shorter than the fingers 7, are sufficiently resilient to engage and retain the step against rattling or accidental dislodgment and can be bent inward or outward as desired.

Fig. 5 illustrates a further means for providing positive support which may be employed independently of frictional engagement. In this form the step piece 10 has the same shape as the form of Figs. 2 and 3,

and the series of fingers 6 have their extremities bent inwardly, as indicated at 11, to form one or more horizontal ledges upon which the base of the step may rest.

In the form of Fig. 6, the shape of the skewer-step perforation is modified so as to facilitate the manufacture of the creel plate and at the same time provide a positive support to hold the step with its upper, concave bearing surface more nearly flush with the top of the creel plate than in the case of Fig. 4:. In this form the margin of the perforation is depressed or dished, as shown at 12, forming a seat of inverted frusto-conical shape, which merges into a tubular and substantially parallel-sided extremity 13 of less diameter, the latter being preferably composed of spring-fingers such as above described. The step let for this kind of mounting has its upper portion shaped to correspond with the conical shaped seat while its lower portion is of less diameter and cylindricalor substantially so, whereby it may occupy the space within the fingers 13 which may press upon and thus hold the step in place. The load on the step, it will be observed, is positively supported by the large and favorably shaped head of the step resting in the depression or countersink. In this form of mounting, other means than the friction fingers can be provided for retainof crackin or burstin the orcelain or glass skewer-steps, and that it is at the same time readily removable by the application of sullicient force, such force being applied in Figs. 2 and 3 either from above or below, and in the remaining figures from below preferably, although in the case of a broken step it can be driven through from above. In Fig. 8 a stronger force will be required to force the rib 15 through the fingers, unless the step is broken, in which case it can be pushed out readily in either direction.

I claim:

1. The combination of a creel-board or rail formed of a sheet metal plate having a perforation through the same with the marginalportion of said perforation drawn out from the plane of the plate and forming holding means, and a skewer-step held in said plate by said means.

2. The combination of a creel-board or rail formed of a sheet-metal plate having a perforation through the'same with the, marginal-portion of said perforation drawn out and cut or slotted to form one or more stepholding fingers and a step in said perforation within said fingers.

3. The combination of a creel-board or rail. formed of a sheet-metal plate having a perforation through the same with the marginal portion of said perforation drawn out thinner than the body of the plate and slotted to form. one or more resilient stepholding fingers and a step in said perforation frictionally held by said fingers.

4;. The combination of a creel-board or rail formed of a sheet metal plate having a perforation through the same with the marginal portion of said perforation bent downwardly from the plane of the plate and slotted to form one or more holding fingers and a skewer-step held in said plate thereby.

5. A creel-board"formed of a metallic plate havinga perforation formed therein with a sloping or flaring entrance and a substantially parallel-sided lower extremity, said lower extremity being flexible or re silient and a skewer-step having an enlarged head adapted to seat in said flaring entrance and a reduced barrel portion adapted to be engaged and held in place by said resilient lower extremity.

having a depressed margin, a vitreous skewer step seated on said depressed margin and provlded with means for confining 1t 15 upon its said seat.

In testimony whereof, I havosigned this specification in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM O. ALDRICH.

Witnesses Oscar L. OWEN, Harmon O. NELSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

